


Caramel

by wacklit



Category: DCU (Comics), Teen Titans (Comics), Teen Titans Year One
Genre: Accents, F/M, Miscommunication
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-20
Updated: 2017-04-20
Packaged: 2018-10-17 03:54:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10585902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wacklit/pseuds/wacklit
Summary: “Hold on—" Dick says, “What did you call it?”





	

“Hold on—" Dick says, “What did you call it?”

Wally looks back at him from the pantry. “What— caramel?”

 _Carmul._  Wally had said it so easily, like Dick was the one who was confused. They were both in the kitchen, looking to fix a sundae. Dick adjusted his sitting on the tabletop and frowned.

“What the hell is c _armul_?” He asks, enunciating it the way Wally had.

“This,” Wally replies, and reaches for the jar on the top shelf, pointing to it. “This is caramel.”

“It’s called caramel.” Dick says patiently, “The second A is right there, see?”

“I see it.” Wally frowns down at the label and back up at Dick. “So?”

“So, _say_ it right.” 

“I am,” Wally says, “Caramel.”

“With the A.”

“Car _a_ mel?” Wally tries, tasting the pronunciation on his tongue and shaking his head. “That’s wrong. We say caramel.”

“Who?” 

“Everyone." Wally says and when Dick looks doubtful, says, "Watch— Roy,” Wally calls out, loud enough for Roy to hear no matter where he was in the tower. Or the city.

“What?” Roy yells back from the living room.

“Could you come here a sec?” Wally asks, eyes narrowing at Dick.

There's a gaudy sigh as Roy hauls himself off the sofa and trudges into the kitchen looking pissed off. “What?”

Dick stares back at him, challenging him in someway. Roy lifts a brow, mindful of where he left his bow and quiver in case that punk wanted to jump into his green panties and throw a batarang.

“What’s this called?” Wally asks, holding the jar out for him to see.

“Huh?” Roy squints, before answering, “Oh, that’s caramel.”

 _Carmul_. He said it exactly the same way Wally did. Dick chokes on his own spit.

“It’s caramel!” He corrects, taking the jar back.

“Who the fuck says _caramel_?” Roy asks in a whiny high voice he uses when he mocks Dick, as he pulls out and straddles a chair.

“Right?” Wally agrees.

Dick gapes and wonders where they learned how to read. “What the—" he sputters, rereading the label for the fifth time. “Look, it’s written right here. Caramel. Say it with me now.

“Car-a-mel.” Dick explains slowly, like a tutor. He even took the liberty to teach them how to pronounce each syllable, too.

“Car-mul.” Wally and Roy chant back, matching smirks on their freckled faces.

Dick fumes, red in the face. “No! It’s wrong. You’re wrong."

“Majority rules.” Roy says, swinging an arm around Wally.

Dick's grip tightens around the glass. He glares from the damned jar to their smug faces and slams his other palm on the counter.

“Garth!” He yells, “Get in here.”

They listen quietly to the timid footsteps approaching the kitchen.

“Yes?” Garth asks, peeking his head into the doorway.

“What is this?” Dick screams and hurls the jar at his face.

Garth yelps and ducks out of the way. There's the familiar sound of shattered glass as the caramel spills onto the hardwood floor.

“Butter fingers.” Roy shakes his head. 

“Smooth move, Dick-weed.” Wally grumbles as precious caramel continues to seep out.

Dick ignores them and directs his attention back to his potential ally. “Pick it up, Garth!”

Garth tiptoes around the glass and shakes his head. “W-why? What is it?”

“Just the paper, don’t cut yourself.” Dick says, and Garth carefully pinches the label with a few pieces of broken glass still glued to it.

“Okay?” He says, holding it between his index finger and thumb.

“Read it.” Dick commands through his teeth. “What does it say?”

Garth looks back at them all watching him intently, and clears his throat. He squints down at the still-foreign alphabet and stutters out. “S-Smuck-er—”

“No, under that.”

“Uh,” He mumbles, looking down, trying desperately to sound out the new word. “Car-a- Cara-mel?”

Dick beams like it's music to his ears. Sure, maybe, Garth had said it with a hard A and pronounced the mel like meal but at least he'd acknowledged all three syllables.

“Close enough!” Dick throws both his hands in the air and somersaults off the table to embrace his flinching friend. Garth trembles with Dick's arms around him so tightly.

Roy and Wally exchange frowns and roll their eyes.

“Foul.” Roy calls.

“He doesn’t even know what it is.” Wally crosses his arms.

They stare each other down from different sides of the kitchen, brunettes versus gingers. Before they could kill each other they wanted the final playoff. A third party. Their tiebreaker.

“Donna!”

She flew down the stairs in record time, blowing a fruity smelling breeze in their faces. She's the only one dressed in her costume, somewhat. Her shirt was partly tucked in and she didn't have time to wrap the laces of her espadrilles around her left ankle. The loose ends whipped at their faces lightly.

“What? What’s going on?” She panics, floating around the boys. She scans each of them up and down, checking for injuries or signs of damage.

They point to the floor a few feet away and grit their teeth.

“What,” Wally starts.

“Is,” Dick says.

“That.” Roy finishes.

“Called?” Garth asks, unsure if he’d been included.

She hums behind her, towards the spilled caramel on the floor. She perches over it and tilts her head curiously.

“This?” She points, and the realization dawns on them all that she probably knew less than Garth. Just last week they had to explain to her what exactly a pizza was. Dick sighs in defeat.

She hums again and dips her index finger in the puddle. She swirls it around a safe part of the caramel and sniffs twice before putting it inside her mouth.

“Mm!” She beams, “It’s good.”

Both sets of boys seemed to at her for different reasons. Dick and Garth stared because she’d just licked something off the floor that hadn't been cleaned since they'd moved in. Wally and Roy stared because they thought it was hot.

“Yeah,” Roy agrees, swallowing hard. “It is good.”

Wally nods absently, “We should just call it good from now on.”

“Tomato tomahto.” Dick shrugs, eyes fixed.

Garth furrows his eyebrows. “I thought it was car—“

“Don’t.” Wally cuts him off. “I don’t care what it’s called. I like it either way.”

They watch her push another dollop into her mouth.

“Best thing you can put on a sundae.” Roy says, unable to take his eyes away.

“Same here, though pecans is a close second.” Wally sighs moonily.

Dick twitches. It had just been a slip of the tongue. He must've heard wrong.

“Hell yeah." Roy agrees, "Can't have a sundae without pecans.” 

Dick walks away from the kitchen and throws open the nearest window, “ _Puh-caughns_?” He reiterates before flinging himself out.

**Author's Note:**

> i read all of garth's dialogue from ttyo in jimmys voice from ed edd and eddy


End file.
